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There is a significant chance that the Euro itself will collapse in the coming weeks or months.

Although the highly likely Greek government default may act as the trigger, the collapse of the European Monetary Union (EMU) and its currency is a quite different event from a single minor member defaulting on its debts.

As discussed herein, the potential rapid annihilation of what used to be a global reserve currency could lead to one of the fastest and sharpest redistributions of wealth in financial history.

If catastrophe takes down Europe's economy and banking system, then we may see repeated tidal waves of business collapse and spiking unemployment spreading out from the EU, and slamming into the already weak but tightly interlinked economies of the US, Japan, Canada, Australia and others.

At the same time there will be enormous windfall profits for some governments and for many millions of individual citizens.

For many, whether they gain - or are destroyed - will be more or less happenstance.

However, if we see the waves coming and are prepared, there are personal steps we can take to change whether we are likely to be one of the victims or one of the beneficiaries.

We'll get back to how that wealth redistribution could occur, and who would benefit and who would lose - but first and foremost, keep in mind that while there is a strong chance of currency disaster - it is not preordained. In an attempt to avoid global depression, the governments involved are working feverishly to keep the Euro from collapsing (keeping in mind the distinction between the entire European Monetary Union and Greece).

When making your financial preparations, be sure to take into consideration this keen motivation, as well as that every aspect of the "rules" is determined by these governments. It is worth noting that changing every banking, accounting and money-related regulation or law before a collapse, is considerably easier than dealing with global depression post-collapse. Most of all, never forget that through the monetary creation ability of the collective central banks, there is an effectively infinite supply of money to work with.

When considering this extraordinary motivation and the full power of governments, there is a quite respectable chance that we are instead entering a period of rapid change in how the global order is structured, rather than total collapse. It isn't "game over" for the Euro - YET - as there are a powerful set of governmental tools available that can fight what looks to be inevitable under the current rules.

It should also be noted that the preservation of the Euro is not necessarily the "good" outcome - far from it - as it could instead lock into place dysfunctional economies, hollow banking systems, long-term high rates of unemployment and the systemic Financial Repression of investors, all under the control of an increasingly powerful international State that grows ever less responsive to voters in individual nations.

However, the remaining lifespan of the Euro and the European experiment could nonetheless be measured in weeks by the time you read this. What history teaches us is that mistakes and accidents do happen. This is particularly likely to be true in times of enormous stress when crises are rippling back and forth around the world, and when the vast scale and complexity of the problems exceed the abilities of the leaders and their advisors.

Greece could default any day, absent some swift and major changes - and Portugal, Ireland, Italy and Spain could be put fully into "play" with dizzying speed when Greece goes down. There is a desperate need for a unified approach in defusing the crisis, but Germany is in disagreement with France, while the United States with its crucial control of the dollar is in disagreement with both.

While the Treasury Secretary and Chairman of the Federal Reserve are fully engaged, most of the leadership of the United States seems more concerned with partisan politics and seeking political advantage for the 2012 presidential elections rather than such details as the looming potential for an economic collapse of the West, accompanied by rising national security risks.

Perhaps the biggest variables of all are what choices will be made by China and a few other select powers. Financial writers are notoriously myopic when it comes to the geostrategic, and often forget that there is much more to power and history than income statements and the simple extrapolation of the current world order into the indefinite future.

Yes, China could act as a savior of sorts for the West in order to keep its export markets going, or it could meekly accept being dealt a crippling economic blow if its markets for exports collapse.

Or China could with calculated self-interest seize the moment of its rivals' greatest collective vulnerability to make a decisive move for global ascendency, putting a deliberate knife into the back of the EU and the US economies. It is a moment of vulnerability that a resurgent and energy-rich Russia - or radical elements within Islam - might also try to seize in an attempt to change the global power structure.

Weakening empires at vulnerable moments have historically attracted wolves, rather than helping hands from those peoples whom the empire has been attempting to hold down as second-class nations.

The future is in play as Greece teeters on the brink, and while it is highly desirable to "game" the scenarios in advance, be profoundly skeptical of anyone claiming knowledge with 100% certainty of what will be coming next.

The governing concept is volatility, and the likelihood of a sharp change that may turn the familiar status quo upside down - whether currency meltdown, increasing control by the national governments and international organizations, or global power struggle - rather than the certainty of which particular sharp change it will be. The scenario we will explore in this article is of currency meltdown, and how personal wealth would be rapidly redistributed.

A Speculative Exploration Of Euro Meltdown

(Part of what follows was first published as "German Windfall Profits From Exiting The Euro" in April of 2010, when the question of the survival of the Euro was first rising to prominence. Much new analysis has been added as well, particularly regarding currency speculation considerations and precious metals.)

Germany is a nation that fears inflation for good historical reason, and among the nations of the world, Germany places a particularly high priority on price stability. Yet, so long as Germany remains in the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) with the euro as its currency, Germany may not be in control of its own inflation.

In particular, the current crisis with Greece - and the crises that may follow with other nations such as Portugal, Italy, Spain and Ireland - may prove disastrous for German investors and taxpayers. For so long as it remains in the EMU, Germany may have no effective choice but to bail out countries that have been running up huge deficits – despite Germany itself not having the economic capacity to do this for all of Europe on an indefinite basis, let alone the political will to do so (as reinforced by recent German elections).

If the Euro collapses, it may create an enormous financial windfall for millions of individual Germans, as well as German companies, not to mention the German government. While leaving the monetary union is still far from certain, as Germany also has strong economic and political incentives to stay in the EMU, in this article we will say “what if” and explore some of the startling benefits for nations and individuals of quickly exiting a failing monetary union – as well as the many perils.

But while the specifics of this article are primarily about Germany, the implications go far beyond Germans and Germany (although there are very important implications for arbitrage opportunities with German companies). That is, in this world of financial crisis and sovereign debt crisis, there are powerful related wealth and financial security implications for individuals in every country.

(Please remember that the European Economic and Monetary Union (the EMU) is not the same thing as the European Union (the EU), and Germany may potentially leave the monetary EMU without exiting the political EU.)